Leadership

Board of Directors

MARTIN J. OBERMANChairman

Martin J. Oberman was appointed to the Metra Board of Directors in September 2013 by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and was elected Chairman in February of 2014.

Mr. Oberman came to Metra after a long career as a lawyer and public servant, most notably serving as an alderman from Chicago’s 43rd Ward from 1975 to 1987. Highlights of his career at City Hall include creating the Planned Manufacturing District concept, the first in the nation, to protect heavy industrial areas; being the first Chicago alderman to champion community policing, a groundbreaking concept at the time; and sponsoring and being the catalyst for numerous anti-corruption measures, structural reforms of city government, gay rights and non-smoking ordinances. He received a Best Alderman award from the Independent Voters of Illinois.

He also served as chairman of an ad hoc commission comprised of labor and management representatives that was appointed in 1979 to develop a municipal employee collective bargaining system.

From 1987 to 1988, he was chairman of the Shoreline Protection Commission, which produced a detailed report to rehabilitate Chicago’s shoreline while ensuring environmental protection.

In 2013, he served as a member of the Midway Advisory Panel, a committee established to oversee the potential privatization of Midway Airport.

Mr. Oberman received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Yale University in 1966. He then attended the University of Wisconsin Law School, receiving his Juris Doctor in 1969. He served as Note Editor of the Wisconsin Law Review in 1968-1969 and graduated Order of the Coif.

His legal career began in 1969, working as an associate at the firm that is now Sidley & Austin until 1972. He then served as the first General Counsel to the Illinois Racing Board from 1973-1974, handling numerous assignments, including rewriting the Board’s regulations, advancing proposals to prevent abuse through drugging, drafting a completely new statute for the industry and conducting investigations of corruption.

He had a private, part-time law practice during his City Council tenure.

He was a partner at Gould and Ratner from 1988 to 1989. Since 1989, he has been in private practice handling complex litigation across a broad array of matters. He has argued appeals in federal and state appellate courts, and has been admitted to practice in the U.S. Supreme Court, Illinois Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third and Seventh Circuits and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Mr. Oberman is married and the father of two adult children. He still lives in Lincoln Park, the Chicago community he represented in the City Council.

JOHN E. PARTELOW
Vice Chairman

John E. (Jack) Partelow was appointed to the Metra Board in July 2009 by the Will County Executive, and was elected Vice Chairman of Metra in November of 2012.

Mr. Partelow was chairman of the Will County Republican Party from 1998 until 2008. Prior to his selection as chairman, he served from 1996 to 1998 as the party’s secretary.

Mr. Partelow retired in 1994 after a 32-year career at Dunn and Bradstreet, where he rose to the position of senior vice president, national field operations.

Following his retirement, Mr. Partelow volunteered for the American Red Cross, focusing on strategic planning for the organization. He also served from 1995 to 1996 as a member of the Naperville Citizens Advisory Committee, working on the development of the city’s Master Transportation Plan.

Mr. Partelow and his wife Lorena have been married for 50 years and reside in Naperville. They have five children and eight grandchildren.

JOHN PLANTEDirector & Treasurer

John Plante was appointed to the Metra Board of Directors in October 2013 by the north suburban members of the Cook County Board.

Mr. Plante retired from the Chicago Transit Authority in 2013 after 35 years at the agency. He began his tenure as a trial attorney, and then moved to trial supervision and then Managing Attorney. He created and managed the CTA’s first in-house major litigation team.

Mr. Plante’s next assignment was Managing Attorney of the Claims Department, which involved management of the in-house claims staff and all pre-litigation claims both against the CTA and those made by the CTA for losses it suffered. From this position, Mr. Plante moved to Managing Attorney of Risk Management, which entailed the identification, management and control of all types of risks. Following the events of Sept. 11, 2001, Mr. Plante’s activities became focused on external risks. As this area began to dominate his work activity, it was a natural move to his next position, Senior Manager of Emergency Preparedness, the position he held upon his retirement.

Mr. Plante, who is accredited by the State of Illinois as a Professional Emergency Manager, served as the CTA representative to the Chicago Urban Working Group Transportation Committee, which assists in coordination of the Urban Area Security Grant Program. He also served as chairman of the Regional Transit Security Working Group, which is responsible for the Regional Transit Security Strategy as well as coordination of the Regional Transit Security Grant funding; the co-chairman of the Regional Catastrophic Planning Team Transportation Committee; and as a member of the Illinois Terrorism Task Force Transportation Committee Evacuation Working Group.

Mr. Plante also served as a member of the Chicago BioWatch Advisory Committee and the Chicago Incident Management Team. He was the leader of the CTA Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Team and is qualified as a Level C HazMat Technician. He continues to serve on the Chicago Local Emergency Planning Committee. He has worked with the Chicago Office of Emergency Management, Chicago Fire Department, Chicago Police Department, Chicago Department of Public Health, Illinois Department of Public Health, Chicago and Illinois Environmental Protection Agencies and suburban police and fire departments in planning and executing drills and exercises.

Mr. Plante has served on the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) Board of Directors and as chairman of the APTA Risk Management Committee. He continues as a member of the Risk Management Committee and all the APTA Security Emergency Management Standards Committees.

He lives in Wilmette.

RODNEY S. CRAIGDirector & Secretary

Rodney S. Craig was appointed to the Commuter Rail Board (Metra) in 2014 by the suburban members of the Cook County Board.

Mr. Craig, who is in his third term as president of the Village of Hanover Park, has resided in the village since 1974, following a six-year tour of duty in the United States Navy. Upon leaving the Navy Mr. Craig worked in systems operations for the Federal Aviation Administration retiring in 2009.

Mr. Craig entered public service in 1995, serving as a trustee of the Hanover Park Fire Protection District and becoming president of the district in 1999. During his tenure, he led the fire district in its transition to a municipal fire department. He was appointed village trustee in 2001 and was first elected village president in 2007.

He is a past president of the DuPage Mayors & Managers Conference and currently chairs its Inter-Governmental Committee. He is also active in the Northwest Municipal Conference, where he serves on the Transportation Committee; the Metropolitan Mayor’s Caucus, where he serves on its Regional Economic Development Committee; and the Choose DuPage Executive Board. Additionally, he serves as secretary on the board of the Campanelli YMCA, is a member of the Schaumburg School District 54 Foundation, and is vice president of the Illinois Municipal League.

Mr. Craig is a graduate of Palatine Township High School, Harper College and Concordia University.

MANUEL BARBOSADirector

Manuel Barbosa was appointed to the Commuter Rail Board (Metra) in 2013 by the Chairman of the Kane County Board.

Director Barbosa retired in 2013 from the U.S. Federal Court for the Northern District of Illinois where he had served as a bankruptcy judge since 1998. He began his legal career in the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office as an assistant state’s attorney from 1977 to 1979 and was in private practice until his appointment to the federal bench.

In 1980, Barbosa was appointed to the Illinois Human Rights Commission and served as chairman throughout his tenure on the commission. He was reappointed to the commission three times and served until 1998.

Barbosa is a 1969 graduate of Benedictine University (formerly St. Procopius College) and received his Juris Doctor from John Marshall School of Law in 1977.

Barbosa has received numerous awards from civic and legal groups including multiple awards from the Illinois Hispanic Lawyers Association, including its Vanguard Award in 2011. He is presently involved in the Club Guadalupano’s Annual Scholarship Banquet and is on the Board of Visitors of the Northern Illinois University Law School.

Barbosa was born in Mexico and resided in Elgin for the past 56 years. He and his wife, Linda, have three children.

ROMAYNE C. BROWNDirector

Romayne C. Brown was appointed to the Metra Board of Directors by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle in September 2013.

Ms. Brown is a professional transit manager with more than 31 years of operational and customer service experience at the Chicago Transit Authority. She started as a rail conductor in 1978 and worked her way through the ranks at the agency, finishing her CTA career in 2010 as the Vice President of Rail Operations.

In her last position, Ms. Brown oversaw a $1.3 billion budget and developed and administered policies, programs and procedures necessary to ensure the timely, clean, safe and courteous delivery of rail transit service to 550,000 customers a day. She also evaluated and monitored the performance of staff and analyzed the needs related to passenger service, budget and manpower planning, training, program and personnel development and safety functions and initiatives. And she developed policies and procedures for collective bargaining negotiations and worked to maintain effective relationships with labor unions, governmental entities, transportation officials and CTA staff.

Ms. Brown also served as Director of Rail Operations and General Manager of Rail Operations, where she oversaw the operational, maintenance, administrative and customer service functions for CTA’s Elevated (Green, Orange and Brown Lines) as well as the Red, Purple and Yellow Lines. She was also Administrative Manager (Red Line), Tranportation Manager, Rail Operations; Superintendent II, Rail Personnel; Superintendent, Procedural Control and Rail Terminal Clerk.

Among her professional achievements and special recognitions are receiving the Kathy Osterman Award for superior public service in 1997; being featured on the cover of Mass Transit magazine in June 2009; and receiving the Presidential Employee Excellence Award in 2007.

Ms. Brown attended classes at South Suburban College in South Holland, and is a 1999 graduate of the Chicago Transit Authority’s Transit Management Program at Harold Washington College. She also attended the City of Chicago Intergovernmental Executive Development Program in 2003.

Ms. Brown is a native of Chicago’s South Side who has lived in Dolton for more than 20 years.

NORMAN CARLSONDirector

Norman Carlson was appointed to the Commuter Rail Board (Metra) in April 2013 by the Chairman of the Lake County Board.

Mr. Carlson spent 34 years with Arthur Andersen Co. being appointed as the North American Rail Industry Head in 1985 and the Worldwide Managing Partner of the Transportation Practice in 1990. He served in that capacity until exercising the early retirement option in 2000. In 2000 he formed Carlson Consulting International serving as a short-term executive in challenging situations including being the non-executive chairman of the board of RailWorks during its successful bankruptcy reorganization.

Mr. Carlson is active in supporting Catholic Charities with a focus on veterans programs, a member of the Business Advisory Committee to the Transportation Center at Northwestern University, moderator of the monthly railroad discussion group at Northwestern, pro bono advisor to the City of Lake Forest on transportation matters, and managing editor of a publication on the history and current operations of rail passenger service in Chicago.

Mr. Carlson is a graduate of the University of Illinois with a BS of Accountancy degree and is a certified public accountant. He served as a U. S. Army Infantry officer in Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service.

DON A. DE GRAFF
Director

Don A. De Graff was appointed to the Commuter Rail Board (Metra) in 2011 by the south suburban members of the Cook County Board.

Mr. De Graff has served as president of the Village of South Holland since 1994. In addition, he has more than 40 years of leadership in the banking and commercial lending industry. He currently serves as the President of MB Financial Bank, Southeast Region. Prior to this, he was president of First Savings and Loan of South Holland.

Mr. De Graff holds leadership positions in a number of civic and planning organizations. He currently serves as Chairman of the Chicago Southland SES Metra Commuter Rail Development Board and the MWRD Little Calumet River Watershed Planning Council. He is treasurer of the Abraham Lincoln National Airport Commission. He is past president of the South Holland Business Association and former chairman of the Chicago Southland Alliance. He is also a member of the Chicago Southland Economic Development Corporation, the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association, the Chicago Southland Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Chicago Southland Chamber and the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus.

He holds a B.A. in Business Economics from Calvin College and a M.B.A. in Finance from Northwestern University. He has also completed career development course work at the University of Illinois, Champaign and is a licensed representative of the National Association of Securities Dealers.

Mr. De Graff is the recipient of an award of excellence from the South/Southwest Association of Realtors, a community leadership award from Christ Community Church of South Holland and an appreciation award for Christian leadership and support from the South Holland Ministerial Association. During his term as village president, South Holland received the outstanding municipality award from the Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce.

MARC J. MUNARETTODirector

Marc J. Munaretto was appointed to the Commuter Rail Board (Metra) in June 2014 by the McHenry County Board.

Munaretto is a career real estate and finance executive with extensive experience in real estate development, financing, leasing, acquisition, disposition and asset management and has worked for a number of the nation’s largest real estate portfolio management and redevelopment firms managing large commercial real estate investment portfolios in the central and western U.S. He is currently the president and sole shareholder of, M.J. Munaretto & Co., Inc., providing real estate brokerage and corporate real estate services including site selection, leasing, financing, and development services.

Munaretto served for 14 years as the elected member of the McHenry County Board in District One and was chairman of the Board’s Finance and Audit Committee for ten years during which time he implemented fiscal controls that have since guided the county’s financial policies and contributed to its sound financial condition. He was also an active participant in financing more than $150 million in debt for the county at historically low rates and without raising taxes. The financial controls he established for the county had a direct impact on Moody’s Investor Services decisions to increase its rating of the County’s debt three times from Aa3 to Aaa (in April, 2010).

Munaretto was also instrumental in the formation of the McHenry County Convention and Visitors Bureau. He is a strong advocate of economic development in McHenry County and served as the County Board’s liaison to the McHenry County Economic Development Corporation for the past 10 years.

Munaretto is a 1970 graduate of Kent State University. He resides in Algonquin with his wife, Denise.

BRIAN K. REAVESDirector

Brian K. Reaves was appointed to theCommuter Rail Board (Metra) in October 2013 by the south suburban members of the Cook County Board.

Mr. Reaves is the founder and president of Integrated Warehouse Systems (IWS) located in Romeoville, Ill. In addition to being a business owner, Mr. Reaves also serves as mayor of the Village of Lemont, Ill. He was elected mayor in 2009 after having served as a village trustee and chair of the village board’s finance committee since 2003.

Reaves also serves on the Transportation Committee for the Southwest Conference of Mayors where he currently chairs the Legislative Committee. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Will County Governmental League, where he chairs the Will County Electrical Aggregation group. Reaves is vice president of the Northern Will County Water Agency and has been a member of the Metra Heritage Corridor Alliance since 2009.

Reaves and his wife, Sherrie, have four children and reside in Lemont.

JOHN P. ZEDIKERDirector

John P. Zediker was appointed to the Commuter Rail Board (Metra) in 2013 by the Chairman of the DuPage County Board.

Mr. Zediker is currently partner and chief operating officer of Ruettiger, Tonelli & Associates, Inc., a design firm with emphasis in civil engineering, planning, surveying and GIS. Mr. Zediker is a licensed real estate broker and holds certification from the American Institute of Certified Planners.

Mr. Zediker brings to the Metra Board executive experience in both the public and private sectors, having worked as the Director of Transportation, Engineering and Development for the City of Naperville and as president of Moser Enterprises, Inc. He has extensive experience in land acquisition, development, construction oversight and strategic planning.

In addition, Mr. Zediker represented the residents of Aurora, Naperville and Lisle as a commissioner on the DuPage County Board from 2009 to 2012. He has also served as a director of the Choose DuPage Economic Development Agency and as a member of the City of Naperville’s Transportation Management Advisory Committee. He currently serves on the North Central College Board of Trustees Associates and as a director of the Naperville Development Partnership.

Mr. Zediker holds an M.B.A from the University of St. Francis and a Master of Science, Urban and Economic Geography from Northern Illinois University. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Carroll College.

He is involved in numerous charitable and service organizations, including the Naperville Sunrise Rotary, Naperville Heritage Society and the Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry.

Mr. Zediker resides with his family in Naperville, Ill.

Take some time to study Metra – as I have done since I joined the board and became its chairman – and several things are readily apparent. The first is that Metra is an extremely complex system, and its interaction with freight railroads and Chicago’s congested rail infrastructure is very challenging. But hand-in-hand with that understanding is the fact that, despite that complexity and despite those challenges, Metra and its employees do an excellent job providing reliable, safe and comfortable service. We set high standards for ourselves, and for the most part we meet those standards. Our riders expect that, and they – and we – are disappointed when our service is not up to par.

The second is that Metra’s capital budget is in dire straits. To understand why, it’s important to know how Metra is funded. Metra, like the CTA and Pace and most other government entities, has two budgets. One is for operating expenses – the day-today costs of running the railroad. The other is for capital needs – improvements to and replacements of our infrastructure and rolling stock like cars and locomotives. When you pay your fare every day or every month, that money goes almost exclusively to our operating budget. All three public transit agencies in the RTA region are required, as a whole, to cover half their operating costs through system-generated revenue (mostly fares), with most of the rest coming from a regional transportation sales tax. At Metra, slightly more than half of our operating costs are paid by fares.

Our capital budget is funded from different sources – primarily federal grants and state bond programs. We set aside a small amount received from fares for capital needs – about $10 million for next year – but for the most part fares cover operations.

Even though our operating expenses increase every year, like most everything, in most years Metra has not raised fares to pay for these increases. The current Metra Board believes that approach is irresponsible and that instead, to be responsible, Metra must function on a pay-as-you-go basis. As we explain later in this book, this year our labor and health care costs for our workers increased, and we have added costs of maintaining aging equipment and maintaining the Positive Train Control safety system that we are mandated to install. We understand that riders might expect something extra when they pay something extra. Unfortunately, covering our expenses usually doesn’t allow us to promise something more. But it does allow Metra to promise that we will not be forced to deliver something less. It’s not unlike paying for gas – when the price goes up, you don’t get a bigger gallon of gas. Just the same amount, at a higher price. (I should add that we are always, always looking to cut expenses where we\ can, but trimming service would unlikely provide much in the way of savings and could jeopardize the region’s goal of becoming a global business center.)

That leads me to our capital needs. If you read the chairman’s letter in most of our annual budget documents, you will see a recurring theme – the amount of money we have available for our capital budget from traditional federal and state sources is falling far, far short of our needs. In the most recent estimate from the RTA’s Capital Asset Condition Assessment Update Report, we need $9.9 billion over the next decade to achieve and maintain a state of good repair on our system. We have long maintained that mass transit needs a stable source of capital dollars, but as things currently stand, we can optimistically expect no more than about a fourth of that amount.

As we see it, that leaves us two choices. We can pretend the problem doesn’t exist, and try to get by with aging equipment and aging infrastructure. But that creates a downward spiral. It costs more to maintain that infrastructure, leaving us less money for reinvestment while service reliability and quality degrades. Or we can try to do something about it.

That’s why we believe Metra must act now and not continue to wait for the federal and state governments to take the lead. We have put together a $2.4 billion modernization plan that focuses on our highest priority: replacing our aging passenger cars and locomotives. It will also help us cover the rest of our costs to install Positive Train Control, which is expected to total more than $400 million. While instituting a long-term capital plan should be routine for any capital-intensive business like a railroad, this is in fact, a dramatic step for Metra because it is the first long-term rolling stock plan in Metra history.

It’s going to expensive, and it’s not going to be easy. To raise the $2.4 billion to modernize our fleet, the plan assumes that we will use $710 million of our expected federal and state funding. We are asking our riders to help cover $400 million more over the next decade – about 16 percent of the total – through higher fares to cover the cost of Metra bonds, or similar debt financing. We believe that asking our riders to help is essential in the effort to convince Washington and Springfield to provide the additional needed funding.

I want to emphasize a central principle of this plan. Unlike the sad history of too many of our governments in Illinois which have left the state and some cities awash in unfunded debt, Metra has committed to issuing no bonds to obtain the urgently needed funding without at the same time making sure we have the funds (in this case obtained from the 10-year projected fare increase plan) set aside to pay the principal and interest on that funding when it is due.

Be assured we will aggressively pursue all options, including new financing strategies and alternative financing mechanisms. If we can find ways to avoid higher fares, we will do it. This year, for instance, a $6 million increase from the RTA helped us shave the amount of the fare increase needed for financing.

We hope our riders will take the time to read the details about our needs and about this plan and see it as a common sense investment that will make commuting a more comfortable, reliable and enjoyable experience.